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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648226">Love Me Now, Love Me Always</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/millijayne13/pseuds/millijayne13'>millijayne13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Best Friends, Confessions, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fred Weasley Lives, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Light Angst, Love, Love Confessions, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Hogwarts, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Friendship, Teen Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Triwizard Tournament</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:09:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648226</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/millijayne13/pseuds/millijayne13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: Five times Fred has been in love with you, and the one time he tells you.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fred Weasley/Original Character(s), Fred Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Fred Weasley/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>122</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Love Me Now, Love Me Always</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted on my Tumblr @iliveiloveiwrite</p>
<p>Warnings: pining, light angst</p>
<p>Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment and a kudos if you enjoyed!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong><em>One</em></strong>:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was in the height of summer when Fred Weasley came to the realisation that he was in love with you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was the height of summer; temperatures teetering on the edge of the twenties – no mean feat for a British summer. It had been dreadfully humid; to the point where Fred was pulling his shirt away from his torso in a futile effort to keep the sweat from soaking through the thin material.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cold drinks and ice creams were on the menu the day that Fred realised he was in love with you. From fairytales and stories, Fred wondered whether he would feel this grand moment in which he knew he had found the one he wanted to love for the rest of his life. His own mother had regaled him stories when he was a young boy about witches and wizards like themselves who had found their one true love; of brave princes who fought magical beasts to save the princess and ask for her hand. He had them all from being a youngster.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However, for Fred, it had been a smile and a laugh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You had spent the majority of the summer with Fred at the Burrow. Your family travelling abroad to see distant relatives in Europe, and you had chosen not to go with them; instead, asking Molly Weasley whether she would mind you staying with the Weasley family until school started in September. Molly had accepted; she would never leave one of her children’s friend out in the cold.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It had been weeks of laughter and mischief filled smiles. Fred felt certain that he had not felt this happy in a long time; the attention he so happily soaked from you bringing colour to his cheeks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A smile and a laugh; that was all it took for Fred’s heart to skip a beat and his mind to come to terms with the knowledge that over the weeks you had been staying with his family, Fred had been falling deeply and irrevocably in love with you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The realisation knocked him breathless as he continued to listen to your laughter; your reaction from a story told by Ron. The words faded to white noise as he focused his entire attention on you; your smile, your laugh, the way your eyes lit up under the summer evening sun. His eyes poured over every inch of you and he simply couldn’t help but question whether he had always been in love with you or whether this was a new development in your long friendship.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tossing your hair over your shoulder, flashing a warm smile in Fred’s direction before returning your attention to Ron, Fred thinks that no, he’s always been in love with you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then and there, he’s more than certain that he always will.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><em>Two</em></strong>:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you trying to get yourself killed or expelled, is that it?” You demand, hands firmly on your hips as you glare at the redhead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred has the decency to look somewhat ashamed of himself as he avoids your gaze, looking absolutely anywhere else in the room than at you and the disappointed look on your face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The prize money…” He trails off; wanting to explain it further but not able to find the right words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Your eyes soften at his explanation, understanding dawning across your face. “Fred,” You whisper, “This isn’t the way to go about it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then what would you suggest?” He snaps, instantly hating the acid behind his words as he watches the hurt bloom in your eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You throw out your hands in exasperation, “I don’t know! A bank loan or something. We can figure it out but entering into a competition that risks your life is not the way to go about it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred remains silent; feeling thoroughly put in his place. You cross your arms; trying not to let the hurt you feel so deep inside show across your face as you ask, “Why didn’t you tell me you were doing such a thing?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He opens his mouth to reply, but quickly shuts it. He doesn’t know what to say; he doesn’t know how to tell you about his plans for the future, about how he sees you by his side through it all. He hasn’t the foggiest on how to explain his deepest desires, so he settles for silence for now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You hold a hand to your stomach as your other reaches up to only juts contain the sob that bursts free. “I was so worried. If your name was pulled out of that cup, Fred Weasley, I don’t know what I would do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something in Fred softens; his heart yearns to take you into his arms, to kiss you senseless as he reassures you he would never do something so utterly reckless again. But he doesn’t do that. Instead, he reaches out for you, a hand beckoning for you to join him on the hospital bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You scramble to him, settling next to him on the bed, automatically resting your head on his shoulder and grabbing his hand. He squeezes your hand; silently comforting you as he dares to press a kiss to the top of your head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A friendship this old, there were very few boundaries. A friendship this old, he was bound to have feelings for you. The realisation from the past summer becoming all too clear as he takes in the tension coiling your body tightly, as the kiss he presses to the top of your head does very little to relax to the tightly bound muscles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Truthfully, he adores you. He would never utter the words to anyone else but you for the fear of having the mick taken out of him, but he does. He adores you entirely, and to see you almost broken at the idea of him possibly entering such a competition – it stirred something in him. A desire to never put you through something like this again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He presses two more kisses to the top of your head, still worried about the tension tightening your body. “Love,” Fred starts; voice low so other students can’t listen in, “I need you to know, I have absolutely no plans on leaving you without telling you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You sniffle, nuzzling your face into his shoulder. “Good,” You whisper, “Because you definitely do not have my permission to go anywhere, Weasley.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred chuckles, tugging you closer, ignoring the rapid beating of his heart as you cuddle closer to him. He drops one more kiss to your head before murmuring, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Three:</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Eyes wide, you glance around the brightly coloured shop. For anyone else, the orange and purple design would be classed as gaudy, but for the Weasley twins, this was nothing short of an explosion of their personalities.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred follows you like a lost puppy; hands fidgeting at his sides as he clenches them into fists and then relaxes them once more. A nervous habit, you realise. He waits patiently for your thoughts as your eyes continue to dance around the shop. Repressing a grin, you turn your attention to Fred. His eyes are bright with questions already waiting, poised on his lips as he tries his best not to bombard you and beg for your opinion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Spinning in your spot, you release a happy laugh, all the while exclaiming, “Fred, this is wonderful.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You think?” He asks, a note on insecurity in his tone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You grin, nodding your head, “All of this, Fred, is wonderful. It’s going to be a hit, so many are going to love it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It almost overwhelms him then. His feelings for you. They rise from his gut; almost cutting off his air as the words he has wanted to say since that fateful summer threaten to choke him. He gathers you in his arms, spinning you in a circle, “Thank you, love.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For Fred, opening the shop was his dream. However, watching you stand in the middle of the shop, a wide smile on your face as you take everything in, Fred is almost overcome with the intensity of his desire to take your friendship to the next level. Not yet, he tells himself, everything was still so new with the shop and something dark was brewing. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to put you in harm’s way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not yet, he tells himself, but soon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Four:</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Endless screaming; endless shouting; endless fighting. That was all it had been. For hours, the castle once thought of as a second home for many students had been the battleground for the opposing sides of war. Those siding with the Dark Lord making it their aim to destroy such a symbol of power and innate goodness; those against him doing their best to keep the castle standing whether it meant laying down their life in the process.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred’s mind had been one thing through the whole battle: you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Even as the wall next to him began to crack; even as it shattered into a million pieces and he was blown out of the way by a spell from Percy, his only thought on his mind had been about you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Desperately, Fred stalks the lines of injured and dead in the Great Hall. Frantically searching for a glimpse of your hair or a flash of your clothes; anything that would answer the one question circling his mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s the sound of your cry that has him whirling towards you; relief already being written across his handsome features as he spies you sprinting towards him. He spies blood on your face and on your clothes, but he doesn’t dare ask where it stems from, he doesn’t dare ruin the sweetness of this moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You come to a stop in front of him. No words dared uttered as eyes scan the other, worriedly checking for any sign of injury. “I can’t lose you,” You cry, “You have to promise me you won’t leave me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred hauls you into a hug; crushing your face to his chest as his arms wrap around you so tightly that it almost crushes the breath from your lungs. His hand runs down the length of your body, starting at your hair and ending at the small of your back, “Never. I never plan on leaving you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Both of you stand there; clinging onto each other for dear life, inhaling each other’s scent. He smells like brick dust, but underneath all the dirt and blood, you can still smell the citrus and cedarwood that you have come to associate with him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gently, Fred rocks you from side to side. To so many, Fred is known to have rough edges. To be loud and spontaneous, and to act before thinking. However, for you, he would be soft. He would be the comforting presence in your life; to be the one to whisper reassuring words and sweet nothings whenever you needed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He wanted to be the one to love you for however long humanly possible. He just needed to work up the courage to confess.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><em>Five</em></strong>:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The nightmares are the worst part of it all. The constant nightmares that make him question whether he’s awake or asleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You’ve taken to sleeping on the couch. It started a month after the end of the war; your flat too small for you to feel comfortable enough on a night. Fred would never tell you this, but he’s glad that the size of your flat drove you to his. Knowing you sleep mere feet away helps him return from the terror inflicted in the night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t like to think of how many times he has woken you in the night. His screams permeating the night air as his fear invades every room of the flat. He doesn’t like to think how often you calmed him down; your fingers carding through his hair until his heart slows to an acceptable pace.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s as you crawl into bed with him; a side of his bed already stained with the smell of your perfume, that Fred admits to himself, he is doing better. The healing process has started; the nightmares only being part of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred believes it’s down to you. You push him to work on himself; to fight through the terror that keeps him in its grip every night. To talk about what happened and his near death experience; you were the first he confessed everything to. He couldn’t face George; he couldn’t face explaining just what went through his head as he readied himself to meet the winged clutches of the reaper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred knows it’s down to you, and he loves you more for it. In the early months after the war, he thought you would leave. He thought that after the first few nightmares, you would call it quits, distancing yourself from him in preservation of your own sanity. He didn’t like to admit to himself how often he kept himself awake with that very thought; how long would it be until you walked away and out of his life?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It never came, however, and he loves you all the more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><em>One</em></strong>:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred tells you he loves on a sunny day in March. Over a year since the end of the war, and over a decade of friendship, Fred simply cannot remember a time when he didn’t keep you close to his heart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The day had started off by following its usual routine; breakfast then opening the shop. From there, Fred would manage whatever customers would walk through the door, greeting each and every one with a smile and a pleasantry. He may be a famous prankster, but that didn’t mean his mother had raised him to be impolite.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You join him just before lunch; bell ringing above the joke shop door as you walked in. A smile already on your face at the mere sight of Fred working so devotedly. The smile that breaks across his face when he spies your presence has your heart racing and your palm sweating; you don’t think he even realises the effect he has on you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fancy grabbing lunch with me?” You ask, hoping he says yes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When do I ever say no to you?” Fred jokes: mischief bright in his eyes as he grabs his coat, shouting to George that he would gone for a bit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You never grab lunch. The weather being too nice to spend it inside a café. Outside the shop, you turn to the tall redhead to find him already watching you with a look you cannot decipher. Smiling, you ask, “Shall we just walk instead? The weather is too nice to eat inside.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred chuckles, dramatically bowing at the waist before exclaiming, “After you, my lady.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You snort, stepping past him to continue up Diagon Alley, heading towards The Leaky Cauldron. Fred asks few questions about the destination you had in mind; just that the hustle and bustle of muggle London becomes apparent as you turn right outside The Leaky Cauldron.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Fred grabs your hand part way through the walk; an almost absent minded action that has your heart fluttering in your chest. Briefly, you wonder if this is it, if Fred is finally going confess that he reciprocates the feelings you’ve long held for the redhead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As you both continue to walk, each step if more tension-filled than the last. The electricity between you crackling almost audibly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pauses suddenly, his feet no longer moving forward as he’s overcome with the depth of his feelings for you. He tugs you to a stop; wanting to smile at the puzzled expression on your face. “Fred? What’s wrong?” You ask; nothing but concern lacing your voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I need to tell you something,” He rushes out, “It can’t wait any longer.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The crease between your eyebrows deepens; it takes everything within him not to reach out a finger and smooth it down. “You can tell me anything, Fred,” You state firmly; fingers squeezing his tightly before letting them drop.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m in love with you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m in love with you. <strong>I want to love you today, tomorrow, and every day from now on, if you’ll let me,”</strong>Fred gasps; the emotions choking off his voice as the sentence ends in a whisper of a plea.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The tears fall down your face freely. “You do?” You sob, voice breaking from the emotions building inside of you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I do,” He states. His voice more confident as the feelings he has had for you since he was sixteen years old take root within his heart. The very muscle growing in size to accompany the scale of his feelings for you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you too,” You confess, your teeth worrying your lower lip as you wring your hands together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something within Fred snaps, and before you’re fully aware of it, he has you in his arms. He pulls you tight to him; the length of your body pressed entirely up against his as he buries his face in your neck, practically shuddering with relief.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It takes a moment for Fred to regain composure, to pull his head from the safety of the crook of your neck. He smiles down at you; a wide grin that only heightens your happiness. You reach out tentatively; gently running your thumb across his cheekbone and down the length of his face. He captures your hand in his, pressing a kiss to each fingertip, all the whole his gaze never leaves yours.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He searches your eyes for a silent answer to a silent question. Nodding, you stand on your tiptoes, desperate to reach his height. Timidly, you brush your lips against his. A barely there kiss that has Fred’s veins igniting to flame.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He drops your hand. Instead, he curls his fingers around your waist, tugging you even closer to him as the pressure against your mouth increases. Fred’s mouth insistent on yours as his desperation to memorise every inch of you reaches fever pitch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>You wind your arms around his neck, gasping against his mouth as his hands begin to travel, splaying against your lower back. Fred takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss; he tastes of the tea he drank with his lunch. You cling onto him tighter, wanting nothing more than to take this further until the need for air becomes too much and you reluctantly pull away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Breaking the kiss, you murmur into the small space between you, “Love me now, Fred. Love me always.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a comment and a kudos if you enjoyed!</p>
<p>Tumblr: @iliveiloveiwrite</p></blockquote></div></div>
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